The Inconvenient Bride (18 page)

Nathan stilled. He gave Dominic a narrow look. “Who's Lacey?”

Dominic smiled his best enigmatic smile. “That, ol' buddy, is something I think you might want to find out.”

Nathan had left the next day. He was going to Tahiti, he'd said. After that he had an assignment in Lapland.

“Run as long as you need to,” Dominic had told him when he drove him to the airport. “But don't run so long you miss the best part of your life.”

Like he almost had.

He still couldn't be home as much as he wanted to be. He'd had to go to a meeting this morning. It had come up suddenly and it cut into plans he and Sierra had made for taking Frankie and his parents out to spend the weekend at the Long Island house.

“You go on,” he'd told her this morning. “I'll finish as early as I can, and I'll come then.”

“You're sure?” He knew she would happily have forgone the excursion, but he knew she wouldn't want to disappoint Frankie.

“I'm sure,” he'd said. He'd done his job. Taken care of business. Then he'd headed for the house as quick as he could.

He knew she saw him coming because she waved in his direction just before Frankie soaked her with a huge splash of water. Of course, being Sierra, she gave as good as she got, drenching Frankie until he fell back laughing.

Then he dove under a wave and came up grinning. Then Dan let go of Pammie long enough to say he'd show his son how to body surf.

“Want to come?” Dominic heard Frankie ask Sierra eagerly.

And he was surprised to see his wife shake her head.

“I think I'll take a little nap,” she said and came up the beach to stand over him and shake water all over his chest.

He squinted up at her. “Lookin' for trouble, lady?”

She giggled, shook just a bit more water his way, then said, “Move over,” and settled on the beach towel beside him. He was still in his khakis and his shirt and tie.

She was cold and wet and it was like hugging a wet seal, but Dominic didn't hesitate to put his arms around her.

“Ahhh.” Sierra burrowed against him, then she gave a little shudder. “Nice.”

“Wet,” Dominic said.

She smiled against his collarbone, then tipped her head to look up at him. “You know you don't mind.”

He dropped a kiss on her nose. “You're right. I don't.”

“How did the merger go?”

“We've merged.”

“Fruitful, was it?” She was playing with his tie, loosening it, making him hot where he wasn't wet and cold.

He cleared his throat. “Very fruitful.” He tried to sound calm and businesslike.

“That's the way with mergers,” Sierra said. Her fingers had unknotted the tie now, and they were sliding it off his neck.

Dominic caught her hands. “Behave.”

Sierra gave him an innocent smile. “Me?”

“We're on a public beach,” he reminded her, though his body was more in need of the reminder than she was.

“Indeed we are,” she agreed. “I have news about another fruitful merger.” She was running the tie against the back of his neck.

He went suddenly still as the import of her words hit him. “Sierra?” He felt short of breath, punched in the gut. “Are you…?”

She gave him a heart-melting smile. “It appears that we are going to have a little dividend about six months from now.”

He felt the color drain from his face and was glad they were sitting on the sand. He felt dizzy and delighted and scared to death.

“Try whistling,” Sierra said, reading him perfectly. “It helps.”

“Does it?” Dominic managed when he could form words.

“Oh, yes.” She put her arms around him and nestled against him and he wrapped her in his arms and held her against his overflowing heart. “It will be fine. You and I together can handle anything, can't we?” She slanted a glance of pure love up at him.

And Dominic nodded, loving her with all his heart. “You bet.”